


Stolen Youth

by polandspringz



Category: gen:LOCK (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Based on Episodes 1-3, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-23 01:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17674181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polandspringz/pseuds/polandspringz
Summary: “You mentioned brain damage,”Kazu’s voice was getting tense,“If you pulled Cammie out when she was stressed, what would have happened?”“You’re a smart man. Certainly you must understand what I mean when I say that I will never allow that happen to any of you.”For some reason, that wasn’t enough for Kazu.





	Stolen Youth

**Author's Note:**

> I had a need for Kazu content since episode 2 and I am a sucker for found family dynamics. This was started before episode 3, but that was what really sold me on my desire to finish this story as quickly as possible. Much of this is going off of discord theories that they can disconnect the Holons once they are safely on off the battlefield (and don't have to be at the Anvil) and what "uptime" is and the need for "emotionally resilient" candidates, so keep that in mind while reading.

When the gunshots started, Kazu’s arms flew up and wrapped around his head, instinct forcing him to duck behind the bench and next to Valentina. Had he been a more competent soldier, he probably would not have even flinched, _like Yasamin,_ who was currently fighting off the fake Sinclair who danced the nanotech around the room as if it was a whip, striking the guards. But no, he was a tank driver, and not a very good one at that. On battlefields he had always been protected inside his armored gunner and then for the worst of the war he had been kept safe inside the kitchens at the barracks. Gunshots were muffled noises, things he had been trained years ago to combat but those senses dulled quickly once he was pulled out of rookie camp and shoved inside the tank. Now, they were loud and whirring, bright white snaps of sound as Yasamin fought to subdue the traitor, the man who had been a friendly, smiling acquaintance to the other recruits on the airship only a half hour earlier. Kazu curled deeper into a ball, hands covering his ears just before he heard a sharp yelp.

 

The Scottish girl.

 

Kazu’s eyes flew open just in time to see the green figure scrambling across the floor, and he was almost knocked back as she tucked herself beside him, almost under his arm. There was a thudding noise that shook the floor and the bench, and then Cammie let out a shrill shriek as she backed into him, her cries drowned out by the screaming of the spasming man on the floor, the tech crawling across his skin and choking him from the inside out. The three of them were forced to watch as the purple cloud filled his helmet, diving down his mouth and nose and then screams turned to coughs turned to choking noises and his body went still.

 

Sinclair’s blue silhouette bolted along the perimeter and the cloud went with him, more signs of a scuffle sounding with shouts and feet and fists slamming before more defeated thuds pounded against the floor. Valentina was the first to stand up, smacking Kazu’s arm to get him out of his trance. The gunshots had stopped, Sinclair was running towards the open door where the nanotech swirled around waiting for its master. Cammie remained on the ground, shaking as she held one hand over her mouth and the other tightly around her knees. Sensing Kazu’s eyes on her, she looked up.

 

Her green eyes watered and Kazu felt his anger flare up, unbottled and unsuppressed. It was the same anger that had gotten him branded insubordinate and landed him in the kitchen instead of a tank, and it in this moment, he welcomed it as he charged forward, hopping over the bench and past the bodies of the fallen guards.

 

When he ultimately tripped and got trampled, he saw her frightened face peering at him from behind the bench, and the anger in him gave way to burning disappointment.

 

* * *

 

She was seventeen. She was too young to be on the battlefield. What was Dr. Weller thinking?

 

Kazu thought this to himself the next day in the cafeteria of the Anvil. She had proven herself capable when she had managed to sound the alarms from the broken door console, but that likely would not have happened if Sinclair had not fled the room and Yasamin had not ordered her to do so in the first place. While Kazu and Valentina had hid too, they had also moved and made an attempt to capture Sinclair before he escaped. Plus, it seemed from what her reputation had to say, she was _only_ useful with computers- the keyboard and touchscreen kind. Despite being the first of the three to get into the Holon, she had the most trouble piloting during the capture-the-flag training session and was the least inventive when it came to strategies on the fly.

 

Kazu had to admit it though- he did have fun when he picked her up and used her as a human shield.

 

He stared at Cammie from across the mess hall, finding her blonde hair seated next to Yasamin and Valentina. The two of them were most likely asking the Yellow Holon pilot about how she ended up here despite her ties to the Union. While Kazu’s was curious, Yasamin had proven herself enough during the fight yesterday that he no longer needed an explanation. Dr. Weller may be crazy, but Kazu doubted that the Colonel would have let him endanger their newest, top-secret security for over four years.

 

All of sudden Kazu noticed Cammie was looking at him, having turned to Valentina to say something when she caught him staring.

 

_Shit,_ was all Kazu could think as he began to absorb himself in his food now. It honestly tasted horrible, he wished he would be allowed in the kitchen so he could teach the chefs a thing or two. A shadow cast over him and he lifted his head to see the petite blonde girl standing over him.

 

“Hey, Kazoo, why are ya sittin’ all alone over here?” She said, dropping her tray with a slam onto the table, “If you didn’t want to sit with us, you could’ve at least dropped by the ESU to eat with Chase. I’m sure he would like the company.”

 

_“It’s Kazu,”_ he grunted out, _“Kah. Zu,”_ shoving the spoon back into his mouth.

 

“Well, Kazoo,” He was convinced the girl was just more mischievous than stubborn. There was an obvious smirk on her expression as she continued, “What did ya’ think of the mechs? I know afta’ seeing Sinclair go, we all were mighty nervous! And then you and Valentina basically forced me to go first, what were you gonna do if I didn’t make it out? Anywho, none of us got fried, but it still was a cool experience, right?”

 

Kazu blinked blankly in response while his translator tried to decipher the girl’s thick accent. Her bright green eyes seemed to glow from behind her towheaded bangs, and she waited expectantly for him to answer.

 

_“At least we got bunks.”_

 

He watched with one eye open as she stared aimlessly and unfocused at him, reading the translation as well. He wondered if his words came out on her side in the same thick and jumbled tongue she sounded like. Her words were written in a terribly informal, broken speech that it almost reminded Kazu of some of the delinquents in the kitchen back where he was stationed in Japan.

 

“Yeah! We weren’t in the pods for that long, but my legs felt like mashed potatoes when we got out! I wonder how long it will take for us to get used to them and walk away like it’s nothing like with Yasamin and Chase...” Her face fell as she realized her mistake, beginning to poke at the meat on the tray with a fork. As the glow in her eyes began to dim, Kazu felt anxious as a warm, sick feeling pooled in his stomach, and he coughed.

 

_“In a mecha anime, we would get to customize our Holons, wouldn’t we?”_

 

Cammie’s head jerked up, eyes beaming almost as bright as her grin once more as she began to vibrate with excitement.

 

“Yeah! Dr. Weller better not even try to stop me! I was up all night sketching out plans for what mine’s gonna look like!”

 

It should be impossible for her to glow with such innocence like that. At first, the sick feeling seemed to fester when he saw her sad, but when it didn’t fade at seeing her smile, his mind couldn’t help but be drawn back to yesterday when her eyes were highlighted by something different than the light inside her. Yesterday, they were filled with tears and were shining as gunshots whirred above them and a man laid dead beside them. He found himself biting back bile as he politely listened to her ramble on about materials and how she planned to fight Dr. Weller for his code, but he eventually excused himself to toss his trash and his tray away, leaving the mess hall in a hurry.

 

The longer he talked to her, the easier it was to see just how crushed she would be in combat, and Kazu hated the attributes that his mind assigned with that look of shock on the imaginary-Cammie’s face.

 

_Frightened. Frozen. Useless._

 

She was going to have to kill people, and she wasn’t ever going to be close to being ready.

 

* * *

 

Training did not just include playing games with the Vanguard, apparently. While Kazu looked forward to the next opportunity to chuck Cammie’s forty-foot body at those pilots in the striders, particularly the one who kept annoying Kazu with his constant sighs and “Let’s try again”s, after a few days they walked into the ESU and were informed that the Holons were off limits.

 

“We are trying to get all of you on Chase and Yasamin’s level as quickly as possible. However, as I said with ‘uptime’, it is not good for your brains if you constantly are switching into the Holons. Besides, we need to start outfitting them with armor in case something major comes up within the next few weeks that all five of you are needed for. Today, you will be doing hand-to-hand training with Yasamin,” Dr. Weller said, allowing the Iranian woman beside Chase’s hologram to step forward.

 

“Some of you are still having trouble with walking,” She said, glancing at Cammie, “Your suits are designed to enhance your motor skills and make them similar to what you would feel in the Holons. If you practice more movement in them, it may be easier.”

 

“Until we get the armor on, that is,” Chase quipped.

 

“So, are you just going to be showing us a few punches or…” Cammie said nervously, to which Yasamin cracked her knuckles.

 

“No,” She grinned gleefully, “We will be engaging in sparring. Valentina, you first.”

 

Dr. Weller coughed as both prepared to lunge at one another, “Outside please. While I do not doubt Caliban could take the abuse, I do not want anything to happen to Chase while in the tank.”

 

The fight between the two was interesting, no doubt. It was obvious there were still some pent up emotions from the first day where Valentina had called Yasamin a “Union stray”. Chase stood closeby, acting as the referee since he could easily step in and not be hurt if things got too ugly. Kazu sat next to Cammie on one of the supply crates, arms folded while the girl played with her own arm, twisting, opening, and closing her hand into a fist.

 

“Hey Kazoo, do you think Yasamin will go easy on me?”

 

_“I think after Valentina wins she will be too angry to go easy on either one of us.”_

“Hm… Well, I don’t want to get brain damage, but I would prefer it to be in the Holon then from getting my skull smashed against the ground.”

 

An unwanted image flashed through Kazu’s mind as he thought about what would have happened if they were really on the battlefield, no Holon cyberbrain connection or even a mech body to protect them.

 

_“She won’t try to kill you, but if you don’t defend yourself, she might get angry.”_

Valentina’s suit lit up neon purple as they drew their arm back and prepared to land a punch underneath Yasamin’s jaw. The woman dodged in time and managed to activate her own suit so she could quickly grab her wrist and send Valentina twisting towards the ground.

 

“Had enough yet?” Chase asked as the two continued to kick and struggle with one another. They both whipped their heads to the blue pilot and seemed to growl something at him.

 

“Best two out of three?” He shrugged and quickly backed away as the fighting resumed.

 

“Kazoo, you were in the military, right? Do you know how to do all these fancy tricks?”

 

_“I was a tank driver. I’ve done some, but I don’t think anyone could match them.”_

“Well, could ya’ at least show me how to throw a punch?”

 

Kazu’s attention snapped to her, _“You can’t punch?”_ He asked incredulously.

 

“Hey! I’m a computer wizard. Even though I worked for the Polity, they didn’t expect us to be super able. I’m sure I can but, not… like… them.”

 

He blinked at her.

 

“Or you, probably. I’m just saying, it would probably be really bad if I went out there and got instant KO’d by one of them. Besides, we aren’t familiarizing ourselves with the suits by sitting here, and when you tried to stop Sinclair, you went flying too! You could probably use a warm up too.”

 

Kazu couldn’t argue with that. He had been surprised by the way his muscles seemed to accelerate and launch him, and he would certainly hate for that to happen and send him into one of the structures or off the cliff to where the ships were landing. At that time he had only embarrassed himself in front of a few people, he had only been here a few days, and he was not looking forward for the entire Anvil to know him as a bird.

 

_“Alright. Let’s go.”_ He jumped off the box and took a stance, _“Just start hitting me and I’ll block until you get used to it.”_

“I may have wanted Yasamin to go easy on me, but you don’t have to.”

 

_“I’m not going to, I’ll be gathering information on how to strike you.”_

“Oh? So you planning on grabbing my leg and sweeping me to the floor if I try and kick you? Well, you’ve got another thing coming!”

 

Cammie stood tall on the crates and decided to leap down at Kazu, both of her feet flying at his face. With a smirk, he lifted his arms up and bear hugged both of her ankles, backing up quickly as he dangled her upside down and began to swing.

 

_“Perhaps try something more conventional.”_ He snorted when the girl began to flail, her legs restrained so she could only bend and unbend her knees so they lightly bumped against his chest.

 

“Can we go one day without you picking me up?” She tried to twist around in his hold, but to no avail, “Put me down!” She pounded above her head, missing Kazu’s legs a few times. The man let go of one ankle when he heard the sparring behind him stop, turn around with Cammie held out in front of him while Yasamin and Valentina watched on with amusement.

 

_“You two can keep fighting. I’ll work on practice with her.”_

And with that, Kazu stalked away, humming a song to himself as he continued to swing the girl upside down until he slowly set her on the ground, dropping her head and her back down so her legs were still sticking up in the air. Once she was righted and on her feet again, she charged him.

 

“I’m gonna get you for that, you kazoo!”

 

As he was chased around the field and caught, he couldn’t help but think about how light she was in his hands. When they finally began to practice, everything he blocked was soft and airy, and whenever he threw a punch her way she would easily slide backwards. There were benefits to being light, she managed to shift and bend out of the way in time on his first throw which was a little too hard, but there were drawbacks too. If they were up against Union soldiers or drones, Kazu feared the thought of one of them sending Cammie flying into a cliff or a wall. She had mentioned her skull cracking earlier, and that could very well happen but what if her neck snapped?

 

After only a few minutes, Kazu found himself stopping, dropping his stance and standing up tall as Cammie caught her breathe and leaned over her knees. She looked up, pushing her bangs back with another one of her smiles, this one gentle and thankful, and Kazu felt that sick feeling take over again as he saw a flash of it being replaced by a gasp of her last breath as her head smashed into the ground. He staggered off back towards the group.

 

_“They finished. I want to fight Valentina.”_

“Oh,” She sounded slightly disappointed as she jogged to catch up with him, “Well, thank you for the help, Kazoo! Do you think I can take on Yasamin now?”

 

_No,_ was what he wanted to say, _you should leave, go home, go back to your computers._ _Go back to being safe,_ but he knew that as one of the only five compatible candidates for the gen:Lock program, that would never be an option.

 

_“Take a break first. Then, we will see.”_

 

* * *

 

“Cammie, you need to breathe, Cammie! Stay calm and get behind the others for now!” Dr. Weller’s voice was buzzing loudly across the channel all of the Holons were hooked up to, “We can’t pull you out just yet! Just get to the back and focus on calming down!”

 

“But what about the people? Oh god, they’re firing at us again, I-”

 

“Kazu, grab Cammie and bring her to the back now!” Yasamin shouted as she fought off a Union drone, the chaos over the channel distracting her and allowing the smaller drone to toy with her for longer than planned.

 

It was their first real battle, and everything he had feared was happening. He ran at the green Holon and tossed her over his shoulder, rushing to the back line behind the Vanguard and the ships. He knew Cammie was too young, knew she wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure, the unpredictability and madness that was battlefield. It was almost overstimulating for Kazu too, in a way. _Almost,_ though. Being in the Holons was very different than being in a tank. With amplified senses and vision, he felt vulnerable and hyper aware of every bullet, every missile that rocketed passed. The first one to strike his armor had startled him, but he was able to shake it off. He wasn’t really here, _he_ was back at the Anvil, his body wasn’t in danger. He would be okay.

 

But Cammie wasn’t able to handle any of it. Her slow reaction time caused her to get surrounded and jumped quickly, and Kazu had to yank each Union strider off her while focusing on defending the squadron that was trying to gather the refugees up and get them to the back where the airships were. He could still hear Cammie hyperventilating over his channel, and even though he knew it wasn’t coming out of her actual Holon, having her so close to him seemed to amplify her distress. He could practically feel her shaking.

 

“Breathe, MacCloud!” Dr. Weller shouted once more as Kazu skidded to a stop and set her down. He gave her a once over as Valentina, Yasamin, and Chase began to yell more as they struggled to defend. He wanted to grab her and shake all of her anxiety out of her, but with the high stakes surrounding them, he knew he didn’t have time. The green Holon was collapsed on the ground as if Cammie’s legs had quite literally given out. A truck carrying some of the refugees rushing across the battlefield slowed to a stop behind Cammie in the “safe zone”.

 

“I can’t do it,” She wheezed, “I can’t there’s… It’s all too much!”

 

“Miss MacCloud, we cannot pull you out just yet! The airships cannot leave until all of you are on it, and the Vanguard needs your help right now-”

 

_“Cammie, stay here and defend the trucks.”_

That got her to stop, “What?”

 

_“Make sure everyone gets on the ships. We will make sure nothing gets passed to you, but if anything gets hacked, take it out immediately.”_

“Kazoo, I don’t think I can, I-”

 

_“You can,”_ he affirmed, looking straight into the green shining lights that acted as eyes for her Holon, _“I believe in you.”_

 

He didn’t, but it seemed to do the trick. He dashed away then, fighting a few paces back from the front lines to take out the stragglers that were weaving their way towards Cammie. Once they were gone, he became bolder, and with his blood boiling he charged his way past Yasamin and Chase and crushed a robot in his metal grasp. With wide, sweeping motions, he knocked the tanks and drones back so they either fell off the cliffs or smashed into the mountain on their other side. Dr. Weller’s voice has quieted over their communication, and Cammie seemed to be better, directing the civilians to get behind her with urgency. Kazu glanced back, seeing no Union mechs had made their way past them. He turned to the ones charging forth again, and that was when he heard a gasp.

 

“Cammie! We need you to take care of this one!”

 

High pitched whirring buzzed and screeched across their channel as all the Holons jerked their heads up to see a gigantic black metal airship crossing the sky to the Polity’s safe zone.

 

“We can pull you out soon once everyone is on the ship! Don’t let that thing kill the people though!”

 

“I don’t know if I can! It’s too high for me to punch or kick! And the gun I don’t-”

 

Kazu gritted his teeth, wanting to rush back and help her, but being stopped by the new, larger drone that knocked him backwards a few feet. He grunted on the channel as he smacked into the clay dirt of the rocky canyon.

 

_“Cammie, you have to!”_ He shouted, cutting off the girl’s ramblings, _“We can’t help you out. You have to keep them safe!”_

“Kazu, your blood pressure is spiking too much! You need to calm down too! We can’t have two Holons compromised!” Dr. Weller ordered. Cammie’s voice vanished altogether at his words, before she came back.

 

“I understand,” She said with a determined, steady voice, although it was followed by an audible swallowing sound. Kazu grinned, a surge of pride filling him as he knocked his assailant backwards and jumped back to his feet. From Cammie’s end, they could hear the whirring, whirling, and eventual firing as her guns charged and then released powerful bursts up to the sky. Kazu could hear Cammie let out a whoop of celebration and a few excited curses before they saw the black beast falling from the clouds, desperately trying to retreat back to the Union lines. Dr. Weller came on again, his excited voice congratulating them and calling for a retreat.

 

“We’ve done our jobs, and it’s almost uptime! Hurry and get on your ships so we can knock you out for a bit!”

 

The four Holons in the front crushed their last target before sprinting back behind the striders a few paces, waiting for their respective ship to offer them a rope and ascend with them inside. Yasamin directed him beside her as they began to ascend. From over his shoulder, he could see Cammie awaiting her own for a few seconds before the darkness inside of the hanger obscured his vision.

 

She was fine.

 

It was not even a second later that Kazu heard Dr. Weller’s voice turn cold as he shouted for Cammie, and Kazu jolted. He got ready to release his rope and jump back down to the Earth, but the doors slammed shut before he could escape. Yasamin put a hand on his shoulder as the shouting continued.

 

“She will be alright.” She said as the yellow glow from her robot’s eyes faded and she wilted. Kazu could feel himself being coaxed back but unlike previous reawakenings in his body, this one was not a smooth one. He could feel himself being yanked back, almost as if his soul was being dragged out of his Holon and then forcibly shoved back into his human body. His eyes opened and Caliban loomed over him, metallic, faceless features seeming to mock him as the pod remained closed. He could hear Dr. Weller’s yelling at Cammie more frantic now, telling her to relax. Kazu tried to push the pod open, his feet smacking against the roof of it.

 

_“Let me talk to her, dammit!”_

“Caliban, let Kazu out!” The robot responded to the orders promptly, the sealed glass popping loose just as Kazu delivered another kick to it. Arms and legs struggled to climb out in his rush, falling into the crowd that had surrounded Cammie’s tank. Valentina and Yasamin caught him, but he shoved a hand into Dr. Weller’s side and pushed before he gripped the sides of the pod and frantically checked her motionless form.

“She’s inside the ship, but she’s too panicked for us to pull her out. Cammie, please! We are all waiting for you! You don’t need to be completely calm, but if you can slow you breathing just a little bit, we can bring you home to the Anvil.” Dr. Weller brushed off where Kazu had wrinkled his clothes and pulled his chair in front of the pods, sitting down across from the sleeping girl.

 

The line on the other side was silent, save for shuddering, panicked breaths. It was amazing how her body could look so serene and still, yet her voice sounded like she was choking. The doctor’s voice remained gentle and urging though, glancing at the team that had swarmed the girl.

 

“Everyone is here waiting for you, Cammie. You have Kazu especially worried,” He chuckled.

 

At that, the breaths stopped. Kazu’s stomach lurched, fearing she had just uttered her last one. Then, softly, she buzzed over the speaker:

 

“Kazoo?”

 

He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he sighed, the guiding touch helping to ease him off of her pod but he refused to let his eyes leave her, _“I’m here,”_ was all he said, but it was enough. The screaming warnings faded and were drowned out as Caliban typed away on the monitor, configuring her return. The entire display turning back to a relaxed blue as Dr. Weller hissed out a cheer and the entire team took a step back, ready for her to fly out of the case much like Kazu had.

 

With a sharp breath, her eyes opened wide and she gasped, Weller and Kazu moving with speed to yank the door off of her so she could sit up. One hand clutching her chest, she sucked in as much air as she could, almost heaving over her knees as she drew her body up into a ball. Chase and Yasamin moved in, the latter resting a hand on her back and beginning to rub circles in a reassuring manner.

 

“You did great out there,” Chase nodded, “Don’t sweat the small stuff. We needed someone to defend the exit anyway. Sorry you had to stay out there a few seconds longer, kiddo.”

 

“It was your first battle. We will work on getting you used to the sounds of fighting more.”

 

She lightly slapped her face in an effort to wake herself up, pulling her hands away to see them shaking, “Sorry guys. Where’s Kazoo?”

 

_“Over here.”_ He raised his hand, walking forward. Her eyes remained locked on him until he was close enough to tower over her, at which point she ducked her head and then flung herself at Kazoo, wrapping her arms around his neck as she dangled, her legs likely still too weak to stand on.

 

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” She whispered as he managed to wrap his arms around her to support her better. One hand came up to brush through her ponytail, causing her little robotic rabbit ears to wiggle.

 

_Don’t do that again,_ he found himself wanting to whisper back, _You didn’t worry me, you scared me._ Kazu wondered how they managed to pull him out so easily when he felt the adrenaline and fear skyrocket the moment they got in the ship and Cammie’s Holon disappeared from his view. If he was that frightened and yet he was safe to return, then how much worse was Cammie when they left her?

 

In the end, he couldn’t muster any words in time, because Yasamin started talking to Cammie, and the girl let herself drop to her own feet by letting go of him. The noises around him seemed to be underwater, and as Chase and Yasamin led Cammie out of the ESU and likely back to her room to rest, it all seemed to be warped and blurry. It was only when Valentina nudged him did Kazu wake up, seeing Dr. Weller waving a hand in front of his face.

 

“Ah, good. I thought we might have had some delayed brain damage that was only being put off by your bodies’ rush of endorphins! Kazu, you won’t mind if we do a little exam before you leave, do you? We did pull you out during a risky time as well.”

 

Kazu nodded and followed the doctor farther into the lab, moving towards where his desk was. Valentina followed behind for a moment, standing in what normally was Yasamin’s place with their arms folded next to the doctor. As the man rumbled through some files, Kazu found his words.

 

_“What happens if you pull us out when we are stressed?”_

“I had a feeling that question would be coming from one of you eventually. Truthfully, I expected it from Valentina, but, my bets were on one of the three of you, so it’s not too much of a loss,” He rambled as he searched a case, “You can sit down there, by the way, I’m just trying to find my flashlight.

 

“But, to answer your question, Kazu, nothing. Stress is bound to happen when in combat, and while low stress levels are ideal for _maintaining_ gen:Lock, all of you candidates were selected for your ability to quickly recover from and revert back to unaffected emotional states.” He shined a flashlight in front of Kazu’s eyes, checking him for a moment before muttering to himself and writing something down.

 

“But, you said that Kazu and Cammie were risky extractions,” Valentina supplied, “What did you mean by that then?”

 

The doctor sighed, “Yes, well, what those two displayed I would call far more than stress, Valentina. You see, Kazu was beginning to spike, but because it was very early on in his freakout, I deemed it safe to retrieve him, but, you all saw how Cammie was.”

 

“She croaked.”

 

“Yes, and while I have no plans to stop putting her into battle as it would only be proving the Colonel’s point and we _are_ needed in these rescue missions and in the efforts to hold the line against the Union, if we do not fix this quickly, it could be problematic in the future. Extremely problematic.”

 

_“Dr. Weller,”_ Kazu began, _“You said we couldn’t get hurt inside the Holons.”_

The man waved his hands expressively, “I don’t recall saying that exactly, but you shouldn’t share any physical injuries or pain that happens to the body of the Holon in battle. You may have senses, but they don’t apply to pain receptors.”

 

_“You mentioned brain damage,”_ Kazu’s voice was getting tense, _“If you pulled Cammie out when she was stressed, what would have happened?”_

The three were silent as Kazu’s words hung in the air. The doctor didn’t even seem to acknowledge the translation being provided on the monitor through his vision. He stopped his writing and lowered his head, staring at his hands that he had folded on his lap. After a minute, his gaze met Kazu’s behind his glasses, dark and full of so many unvoiced answers.

 

“You’re a smart man. Certainly you must understand what I mean when I say that I will never allow that happen to any of you.”

 

For some reason, that wasn’t enough for Kazu.

 

* * *

 

They were told on day one that there was no way they were going to be able to leave. Not when they were the only five people capable of saving the Polity with this new technology. After Sinclair’s death, after an hour of arguing amongst one another until they finally understood the power and responsibility they all held, Valentina, Kazu, and Cammie had all agreed to stay after being offered each their own bargain in the gen:Lock program.

 

Which is why Kazu was amazed that after weeks of dedication and honest-to-god _fun_ with the team, he was filled with second thoughts. Not for him, but for Cammie.

 

Since their first battle, the only two Holons going into the field would be Yasamin and Chase. The remaining three had their training amplified both in and out of the mechs, with Dr. Weller intent on putting Cammie in as many simulations and desperate situations as possible. When Yasamin was available, she made Cammie spar with her for hours, sometimes with just fists, other times with paintballs and other artificial guns that would force Cammie to confront the sounds of a real battlefield. Her routine quickly became consumed with a cycle of eat, train, sleep, repeat, which would not have been so worrying if Kazu had not noticed how willingly she seemed to be bending to conform to and even increase that second part of the routine and abandon parts one and two.

 

By the third day of Cammie’s absence in the mess hall, Kazu dumped his dinner and raced towards the barracks. His first thought was to find Dr. Weller and wring the life out of him and then Yasamin, Valentina, and even Chase’s amputated body for thinking it was a good idea to put the young girl through this, but his subconscious had his priorities more in order, and it worked out for the better. As he turned the corner to where the gen:Lock candidates roomed, he managed to catch Cammie as she was stumbling towards her door.

 

Catch her quite literally.

 

Swaying side to side on her bruised legs, Kazu moved forward and placed an arm out as she fell backwards without even a soft, surprised “oof”. She blinked up at the ceiling, her brain slowly catching up the fact that she was still outside her room and not in her bed and that Kazu’s arm was _not_ a pillow. She had missed the computerized lock outside of her room with her keycard, which fell out of her hand as she grasped for him weakly.

 

“Kazoo,” she giggled deliriously, her voice almost as quiet as that first time she had been in the pod, offering him her manga collection, “Thanks for that. It would be pretty bad if I went and hurt my brain now with a fall, wouldn’t it?”

 

He tried not to flinch at the comment, instead he continued to support her as he bent down and picked up the card, opening her door and then scooping her close to his chest to carry her inside.

 

Her room was sparsely decorated, most of the color in the metal, gray military barrack coming from the spines of the manga she had lining her desk and floor. She wasn’t kidding when she called it a collection, it looked like one of the bookstores he would see along the streets in Akihabara. Her little pet, Nugget, was crawling along the sheets of her bed, whizzing to life when it spotted it’s own in the arms of the red Holon pilot’s.

 

Kazu made his way over the various wires and devices plugged into the walls of the room, gently laying her head against the pillow before he pulled back. She was still awake, her robotic ears twitching in his direction as she opened her eyes and tilted her head.

 

“Thanks, Kazoo. Sorry for causing you so much trouble always.”

 

He forced a smile, _“The only trouble you cause me is not saying my name right. Some guys around Anvil heard you and won’t say it properly..”_

“Oh, sorry. But it really isn’t my fault your parents named you after a kazoo, you know,” She yawned.

 

_“It means ‘first’, actually.”_

“Eh, being named after a kazoo is cooler. ‘First’ could mean anything,” Kazu smiled as he watched her stretch out before she curled into a ball, her head practically sinking into the pillow.

 

“However, if you want me to stop, that’s okay. You’ve been so nice to me, it’s only fair that I call you _Kazu.”_

His emotions were bubbling up in his throat again, he had so much he wanted to say, but they all seemed to fight to rise to the surface so none of them ever got vocalized. By the time one phrase won, he saw her eyes had shut and her breathing had slowed. She was asleep, and Kazu knew she needed it after these weeks of hard work. Tiptoeing out her room, he let her door shut behind him before he splayed his fingers and palm on the cold metal now dividing them.

 

_“Kazoo is fine.”_

 

* * *

 

“Pilots, I regret to inform you of this, but you all are approaching ‘uptime’. I already spoke to the Colonel, for your own safety, retreat to the airships so we can safely evacuate the Holons and pull you out,” Dr. Weller ordered.

 

“The vanguard were having trouble before we showed up. What good will leaving do if all our progress is undone?” Valentina asked as their Holon hopped off of Kazu’s and aimed it’s gun at a line of Union drones.

 

“The Colonel will send reinforcements,” Chase assured, already turning around and running back.

 

“Or she will order a tactical retreat,” Yasamin admitted, her voice terse and steeled as she soared towards a fighter jet, punching through its structure and then slamming it towards the earth, “We must listen to Dr. Weller and return.” She didn’t seem stoked about having to leave either.

 

The blue and yellow Holons retreated by jogging and flying towards the horizon, Valentina’s purple cloaked Holon swiftly following and covering the group when any Union tanks got near.

 

_“Cammie, where are you?”_ Kazu shouted out, his weapon latching onto and coiling around a large mech, tugging it towards him to crush. This battle had been going relatively well, if they were going by Dr. Weller’s lack of conversation up until now. At the start, they had assigned Cammie to stay behind them, but with the four Holons pushing the line further forward into Union territory, what constituted as the “back” became closer and closer until almost everyone was fighting on the front lines. Kazu heard a gleeful laugh come over his speaker as Cammie bounded past him, little green and white missiles whizzing overhead before they tracked their targets and struck them down with an satisfying red explosion of gas and fire.

 

“Right here, Kazu!” She cheered, and even though she had dropped the nickname, he could feel himself smiling as she danced like the rabbit her armor mimicked along the rows of robots. Her new legs skated and whipped up a cloud of orange dust that fell to reveal the sparking bodies of circuits and shredded metal. She did one circle around him before she skidded to a stop beside him, her robotic arms resting on her waist as she nodded at him, bunny ears bobbing up and down with energy.

 

“Whoo! All that extra training really did come in handy, eh? I feel like a new bot!”

 

_“You’re just in better form because you got to use your own armor,”_ He quipped.

 

“You betcha! It’s so easy to move now!”

 

“Uh, sorry to break up the chit-chat,” Dr. Weller cut in, “But I really need you both to get back to the ships, _now._ I know I already explained to you all the dangers of ‘uptime’, but trust me when I say I am also calling you back because we are going to be retreating anyway.”

 

“What?” All the Holons buzzed in at once, Yasamin, Chase, and Valentina’s voices sounding a little more echoed and distorted. Did they already make it into the ship?

 

“Please, Kazu, Cammie, just hurry back. We don’t have much time, and I would very much like it if you all got here before it-”

 

“Holons, we need you!” One of the striders’ voices interrupted the doctor, and Kazu and Cammie were surrounded momentarily as Polity tech raced past them in droves, falling into formation as they shielded themselves behind the two four-story mechs that remained. The two slowly turned around, helmeted mechanical heads gazing towards the bright blue sky as a shadow cast over them.

 

A six legged iron beast with the flat body resembling a Polity razor-ship dug its heels into the ground and sent shockwaves rippling across the canyon, breaking the rock and sandstone into jagged iceberg-like pieces that were now rocketing straight at the Pilots.

 

“Shit! That’s the thing from New York four years ago,” Chase shouted, “Doc, you gotta let us-”

 

“No, Chase! I will not risk frying the brain of one of my top Holon pilots!”

 

“Then let me go back in, Doctor,” Yasamin tried, to which only seemed to agitate the man more.

 

“None of you are going back in, and none of you will be charging that! Cammie, Kazu, you need to get back to the ships, _right now.”_

 

“It’s huge!” Cammie’s voice squeaked as the thing began to spider its way over to them, “It’s like thirty times the size of us, let alone the rest of the striders. Dr. Weller, they aren’t gonna be able to fight this thing off!”

 

“Cammie, I understand your concern, but we still have no data on that thing and-”

 

“No data? Let me have a go at it, and I’ll get you some data-”

 

“Cammie, no!” Dr. Weller shouted, and there was a banging and a crashing noise from back in the lab before he finally said, “Kazu! Take Cammie and run if you know what’s best!”

 

_“Understood.”_

 

“Hey! What? Wait! Kazu?! Woah!”

 

Kazu wasted no time in trying to grab the scrambling rabbit. Instead, he readied his rope and swung it so it wrapped around her torso and wedged itself into one of the crevices between her armor and the metal frame. Sprinting backwards, the rockets built into her feet helped her be dragged along as they weaved their way to the back of the battlefield.

 

“Dr. Weller, what is going on?” The Colonel’s voice cut in, “We need those Holons back up front or we will lose all our progress-”

 

“If we don’t pull out now we will lose all our Holons Colonel. Tell me what you wish to gain more, a few square kilometers, or the Union’s knowledge of our top-secret tech?! I am doing what’s best for us right now!”

 

“Let me go! We can fight em-!” Cammie’s voice drowned out the bickering going on far away back at the Anvil.

 

_“I don’t know what happened to you during training, but I liked it better when you were having a panic-attack.”_

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Kazu heard the tell-tale clink of something coming loose and then felt his whip come flying back at him, empty handed. He grabbed her Holon’s wrist, stopping her in her tracks. Her green artificial eyes glowed at him behind the white armored mask, and although the armor could bend that way, he could see her brow furrowing in frustration.

 

“Kazu, let me go. I’m not some little kid.”

 

_“You are. You’re acting like a child not listening to orders.”_

“I’m acting like a child? Who decided to drag me practically by my hair this far back? You could have just told me to stop and I would’ve like a good soldier!”

 

The sick feeling that seemed to have gone away weeks ago came back at the start of the battle and had been building up into a tight knot of emotions inside of Kazu. Amidst all the high of doing so well, it had been compressed and subdued mainly, but at Cammie’s incessant tugging and arguing, it exploded.

 

_“Good soldier? You could never be a good soldier! You’re a child! You’re seventeen, you’re far too young, immature, and inexperienced to be here! You can hardly fight, are too scared to take on anything besides a lifeless drone! We’re supposed to be emotionally resilient, but ever since day one I’ve been questioning why someone as weak as you was chosen to fight here!”_

If Kazu had lungs and not circuits inside, his chest would be heaving right now, having practically cursed out the girl who was frozen in front of him. Her voice wasn’t coming in over the speakers in his ears, and his heart began to accelerate, desperate to hear her say something in response.

 

“Sorry about that, Holons,” Dr. Weller’s voice came back in as the Colonel’s voice faded out, “Now, are you back at the airships or-” A strangled cry erupted from his side.

 

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Yasamin asked.

 

“Kazu, Cammie, I don’t know what just happened out there, but you both need to fix it within the next thirty seconds and also get back on those ships, or else both of your brains are fried.” His voice was low and even, but Kazu heard the tell-tale sound of his chair wheeling away before his voice screamed out from far away, “They’re both emotionally compromised! Great!”

 

The two of them were motionless on the battlefield, stopped in time with chaos speeding around them wildly. Kazu could see that six legged drone making its way towards them, and he could just imagine how easily it would stab through Cammie and his’ Holons, piercing them with its sword-like feet. Brain damage and whatever other complications came with it sounded more ideal than learning what happened when they died inside the Holons. There was still no noise on Cammie’s side, but from the screaming going on inside the lab, it sounded like he had screwed up, big time.

 

_“Cammie, I’m-”_

“Let’s go, Kazu.” She deadpanned, flipping her robotic hand around so she was now gripping _his_ wrist. With another whirring noise, the rockets in her feet were flaring and they were going towards the airships, hovering closer than normal, probably after noticing the fact that not all the Holons had returned to the extraction point. However, when they got underneath them, no ropes extended down to lift them in.

 

“Come on guys! You don’t have much time! Cammie, just, jump inside or something!” Chase called out, sounding nervous.

 

“Tell ya friends to lower it a little closer to us! Not all of us outfitted our Holons with wings, you know-”

 

_“Cammie, we need to go.”_ Kazu took his whip and flung it into the dark void of the opened airship, praying for it to latch onto something sturdy and not necessary before he yanked the ship down to their level and climbed inside. He reached out for Cammie, whose eyes seemed to blink at him twice. It was unreadable.

 

She dashed off.

 

_“Cammie!”_

“What the hell?!”

 

“MacCloud!”

 

The doors underneath Kazu closed up before he could do anything, _again,_ he thought belatedly, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up inside the lab, next to Cammie’s sleeping body.

 

* * *

 

There was no one to catch him when he fell out of his pod. No one to explain why his legs suddenly felt like they had lost all of their muscle and gone senseless and numb without the pins and needles feeling. Kazu fell into a heap on his face as the noises around him began to filter in among all the ringing.

 

“MacCloud, we are pulling you out, now. I am not even going to apologize for the adverse effects on your brain, you’ve given us no choice!”

 

“Colonel, we need the striders to protect that last Holon long enough! We are extracting the pilot from it for emergency reasons.”

 

“What are you thinking? That _thing is nearby-!”_

“Just collect it as quickly as possible. This wouldn’t have happened if your squadrons weren’t late on lifting the two remaining out a moment ago! This has all gone haywire! Just don’t let the Union get it!”

 

Kazu suddenly noticed how much red was coming off of the screens in the lab, the sinus rhythms for Cammie’s vitals approaching dangerous levels.

 

_“What’s happening? Where’s Cammie?”_

“Caliban, forcibly quit gen:Lock on MacCloud!”

 

Kazu pushed himself up on the base of the pod and limped towards the robot, leaning on him for support as he stared at the display. The signals displaying her emotions were random and like a scatterplot, wild and chaotic. He bit back bile and guilt about _why_ she was so unstable to stagger over to Dr. Weller.

 

_“If you take her out now, she’ll be hurt, won’t she? I thought you promised that you wouldn’t let that happen to us?!”_

“Kazu- woah, back off, man-! Dr. Weller is just-”

 

“The doctor promised you nothing-”

 

“He promised you not to let it happen. However, I believe that promise implied that you two were to listen to him and actually obey his orders,” Valentina grabbed Kazu and jerked him back. With unsteady legs and no one to lean on now, he collapsed to the floor, his anger only allowing him to uselessly pound a fist into the floor as he began to scream.

 

“She’s coming back to us now, Kazu. If you came out fine in such a conflicted state, I am sure she will too.”

 

His voice didn’t sound so sure.

 

The doctor’s shoes padded past Kazu and the others, going back to stand between Caliban and Cammie, eyes scanning the screens as he counted.

 

“Disengaging gen:Lock. In three… two… one.”

 

Cammie sucked in a deep breath and Dr. Weller pried the pod open with such ferocity Kazu feared he would snap it off. Cammie’s body followed the same momentum and jolted upright, sitting up with a far off, startled look etched onto her. It reminded Kazu of the battle all those weeks back, where she had been shivering and balled up after seeing people die and felt bombs going off beside her. She had been scared then, but they had been able to prepare and hear that over the channel transmitting their thoughts and voices. Now, all Kazu had to piece together what she was feeling was her face, and it was completely frozen, unyielding to any emotion, her mouth agape the slightest, but not floundering at all in disbelief or shock.

 

Feeling must have returned to Kazu’s legs because he found himself scrambling to them at seeing the tears pour down her face, rapidly spilling out as if a dam had been holding them back while she slept.

 

“MacCloud, why I am happy you have conquered your fears in battle, you acted rashly and endangered not only your own life but Kazu’s as well by forcing him to stay behind and retrieve you,” He spoke professionally, but without malice or any real anger. There was an obvious tinge of worry seeping through every word, and eventually, he unclasped his hands and knelt down in front of her, “While I am disappointed and will have to enforce consequences for this, what I want to know right now is: Are you okay?”

 

The girl finally blinked back into the real world, her eyelashes catching the water as she raised her hands to her face with a surprised, “oh?” She swung her legs over the side and attempted to stand, and Kazu came rushing to her aide, ready to catch her if she were to fall.

 

She stared at his arms with disdain for a moment, and the others backed up. Dr. Weller, sensing the tension, stepped aside and decided to watch the two nervously. She made no effort to move, and her little ears remained ramrod straight as she seemed to wait for him to do something. He swallowed.

 

_“I’m sorry,”_ Her eyes snapped up to cut bright green daggers into his chest, _“I didn’t mean what I said. I’m known to speak rashly and not consider others, only myself.”_

She didn’t seem to take a liking to that statement, but she didn’t run away, so he tried again.

 

_“That’s how I got demoted. I told off my officers and they sent me to the kitchen. I told them I wouldn’t fight no matter who it was ordering me to do so, and I cursed them out a bit too. I had been angry at them for a while, and it all just came out.”_

Kazu paused and the group decided it was best to leave the two alone. Dr. Weller and Yasamin moved to go speak to the Colonel, Valentina left the room, and Chase phased out. Only Caliban stayed close by, going through his routine around the lab with no new orders given.

 

“So, you were angry at me for a while, huh?”

 

Kazu’s hands faltered, and he fell to his knees.

 

_“No, no, no. Not at all,”_ He tried, his chest swelling with such a painful, overflowing sensation that he wanted to rip his heart out. It was that sick, feeling, warm and altogether nauseating. He balled his hands into fists and knocked them together, eventually his twitching, lost fingers finding purchase in each other as he clasped them and held them above his head, resting them lightly above Cammie’s knee, _“I wasn’t mad at you. You’ve never made me angry. Ever since I met you, I’ve… I’ve done nothing but be filled with worry over you.”_

There was silence, so he continued, begging for forgiveness at her feet.

 

_“When Sinclair killed those guards, when we saw him die, when you panicked in battle, when you weren’t eating or sleeping because you were so consumed with the thought of getting better… I just… I kept getting these dreams, these thoughts of finding you dead or hearing you scream and then Dr. Weller told me what would happen if you were emotionally unstable again and you kept running off and-”_ Kazu stopped for breath and tucked his head, feeling more and more emotions pouring out from his heart. Cammie was still stiff, likely not even listening to him, just waiting for him stop being pathetic so she could move and walk out. That was fine, he was used to it. His whole platoon left him when he yelled at his superiors, he could deal with one more person leaving.

 

“You had to have meant some of what ya said. You can’t write all of that off as a lie.”

 

Kazu jerked to look up, seeing her wiping her face, eyes hidden behind her arm.

 

_“No, I swear, I didn’t- It was all just-”_

“Come on, Kazu,” She laughed, throwing her head back, her pale blonde hair mussed about by her ministrations and clinging to her damp cheeks, “I’m seventeen. You were right. I have no fighting experience too. When I learned what we were doing here, of course I was like, ‘Why am I here? I was told it was new technology!’ I never liked fighting, except in manga and video games.”

 

She smiled down at him, eyes puffy and red as she put her hand overtop of his, squeezing gently.

 

“I didn’t mean to worry you so much, but you had every right to be. I’ll have you know, even in today’s battle, I was terrified! I tried not to let it show though, and I got a little caught up in it. I’m sorry.”

 

“Well, I’m glad to see you two have made up,” Dr. Weller said, waltzing back over to them, “I just finished speaking to the Colonel. Good news, Cammie, your Holon was secured and is on its way back over. Bad news for both of you, I am not absolutely not letting you two back out there until you both understand how dangerous uptime and controlling your emotions are, because if something like that happens again for an even longer amount of time, we might end up with losing one of you to permanent paralysis. Kazu, you seem just fine now, but MacCloud, you were out there a bit longer. I want to check you over before I send you back to your room, is that okay?”

 

The girl nodded. Kazu remained off to the side while Yasamin and the doctor performed a few tests on Cammie, the same ones the doctor had done on on him after the first battle. Yasamin came over and slammed his knee with the rubber mallet at one point, earning a yelp and a messy punch he threw her way which she easily dodged.

 

“That is for worrying Dr. Weller. Listen to him next time,” she smirked, ‘or it will be both knees, and the hammer will not be soft.”

 

_“Point taken.”_

When all the tests were done, Kazu walked back up to Cammie, who was still sitting in her pod, exhaustion evident in the way her rabbit ears parted to either side when she slouched forward.

 

_“You ready to leave?”_

“I don’t know Kazu. I still don’t think I feel up to walking,” She said, swinging her legs back and forth with a grin. He raised one eyebrow, crossing his arms, “Oh come on, carry me already! You do it enough as is, what’s the difference this time?”

 

_“You stopped calling me Kazoo.”_ He remarked. Her expression melded into one of confusion.

 

“Are you serious about that? I thought you hated it, that’s why I switched to Kazu!”

 

_“It doesn’t sound like you when you say it like that.”_

“Ah, who cares! Just carry me back to my room already!”

 

_“Call me Kazoo.”_

“Whatever, fine! Carry me, you musical instrument! Happy now?”

 

He crouched down and sighed, picking the smaller girl up so she was cradled in his arms as he walked towards the exit. She felt less lightweight compared to the last time he had held her. All of that extra training must have caused her to put on some muscle. As they stepped out through the doors, she made herself comfortable against his chest, folding her arms as she leaned back against his arms.

 

“Thanks, Kazoo.” She hummed, shutting her eyes. Kazu smiled and chose the other way to walk back to the barracks, knowing it would be longer and a drain on his arms, but quieter for the sleeping girl he held close to his heart.

 

* * *

 

Kazu strummed his guitar lightly, testing out the sound on it before he tuned it again. Giving the page of music displayed in his artificial vision another once over, he lifted his pick, and began to play.

 

“Hey, Kazoo! You’ll never guess what I- Aw fuck, my timing is shit innit?” The Scottish girl exclaimed as she saw the man jump and nearly drop his guitar off the bed. The doors slid open, but she had somehow managed to cause a ruckus anyway, slamming her duffel bag into the wall and desk as she swung it about in wild entrance, “What were you about to play?” She asked.

 

_“It’s an older song I found. Something American.”_

“Oh, really? That’s so cool, Kazu! Are you thinking about learning English?”

 

He grunted, _“I know a little from hearing you talk. Probably won’t ever use it though.”_

“Aw. It would be really cool if you skipped over American or British and tried to do my Scottish! I bet the others would be shocked if they heard you talking like me.”

 

_“They would probably call you a bad influence.”_ He thought of the number of curse words he had seen filtered through on his translator. Cammie laughed, and sat down in front of him on the floor.

 

“Any-who, really sorry to interrupt, but I brought over some video games for us, plus some manga. I know you said you don’t read it anymore, but I have a lot of cool classics! It might sound dumb but we might be able to use some of the mecha ones for research into some tricks or attacks we can use! I based my armor set off one of them already, why don’t see what else we can steal?” She pulled out each book from the duffel, lining them up in rows of arcs on the floor.

 

Kazu closed the music sheet and set his guitar back in its case, leaning over and resting his chin on top of her head.

 

“Hey! Get your pointy chin off me! Your beard is all scratchy!”

 

_“I’m trying to see. Your ponytail is in my way.”_

 

“Get on the floor then!” She cleared a spot and patted it frantically, “I also got the anime of all these too, but I figured we could skim em faster and get ideas with the books. I already have some questions about your samurai beetle design…”

 

_“Hey!”_ He knocked her aside with a smack by one of her own books, _“It’s cooler than your rabbit.”_

“It doesn’t matter. You can do so much better! Now, I was thinking we could use…”

 

Kazu sat next to Cammie for hours flipping through her collection, sometimes the two would read in silence unless one of them came across something really cool- then they would thrust the open book in the other’s face until they paid attention. By the time Yasamin came to knock on the door and ask why they were late to training, they both had passed out, Cammie leaning up against the side of the bed while Kazu laid in a large, messy, crumpled heap on the floor, head in her lap with a manga title abandoned on his chest.

 

She decided to let them rest. They had been working hard. Besides, they weren’t the only two on the team with worries about each other.


End file.
